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Rodman-Rotch Family Papers, 1763-1865 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.75 linear ft. (2 boxes)

Abstract:

The Rodman and Rotch families were New England Quakers. Samuel Rodman (1753-1835) married Elizabeth Rotch (1757-1856) in 1780. He was a successful Nantucket and New Bedford, Massachusetts, whaling merchant and clerk of New England Yearly Meeting. Elizabeth (Rotch) Rodman was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, also from a family involved in the whaling business, and active in philanthropic and reform causes. They had nine children. The Rodmans and Rotches were closely intertwined by marriage; three of the Rodman siblings married three of the Rotch siblings. The families also had links to Philadelphia and English mercantile families. The collection contains chiefly personal correspondence (1763-1865) of the extended Rodman and Rotch families, along with travel journals (1805, 1807, 1809) and a manuscript copy of an autobiographical memoir of William Rotch (1734-1828), the father of Elizabeth Rotch Rodman, and some related material. The families had links to Philadelphia...(see more)

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]